5 November 2010
'Melancholia of objection' according to Bałka and Krasznahorkai

On the second day of the Festival, Agnieszka Sabor hosted a meeting with Mirosław Bałka and László Krasznahorkai.

Pictures: Paweł Ulatowski

Krasznahorkai – a Hungarian writer, author of “The Melancholy of Resistance” – he is the creator of the text to the catalogue describing the installation by Bałka (“How it is”), shown in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Gallery. Among others, the guests of the Festival talked about the beginnings of their cooperation; Agnieszka Sabor hosted the discussion directed at “common experiences”, supposedly characteristic for the region of Middle-East Europe. Krasznahorkai and Bałka, however, remained sceptical towards the attempt at “mutualising” their art through national criteria – they emphasised the issue of individuality in the process of creating, they noted the similarity of their narration, distancing from the main streams of art, shaped “on the peripheries and from scrap”. Another subject put forward by Sabor was “darkness”, which accompanies the works of both authors at various levels; in the critic’s opinion it could relate to “the experience of Middle-East Europe”.

Already today (5 November), within the domain of the Festival, the screening of “Werckmeister’s Harmony” at the Cinema Pod Baranami will take place, preceded by an introduction by László Krasznahorkai. The writer will take part in the long awaited debate organised in the Main Building of the National Museum in Krakow “The Centre of Europe” along with the participation of Jurij Andruchowycz, Aleš Debeljak and Krzysztof Varga. Join us!